Saint-Gobain agrees to fund water upgrades for all homes in contaminated Merrimack, NH area

“New Hampshire has reached what officials call a “monumental agreement” on water contamination with the Saint Gobain plastics company.

It comes more than two years after the state first learned of the contamination near Manchester, and will require the manufacturer to run clean water to all affected homes.

Saint Gobain notified the state in 2016 that it had released suspected carcinogens called perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, from its Merrimack factory.

Since then, the company has paid to replace more than 450 homes’ contaminated wells with connections to clean, public water supplies — all without a formal agreement with New Hampshire officials.

Now, Saint Gobain has signed a consent decree with the state, promising to do the same for about 300 other properties. It initially disputed it was responsible for PFC levels in those homes’ water…

Saint Gobain spokeswoman Dina Silver Pokedoff says the company is still tallying up the cost of the work they have done so far and will be required to do under the consent decree.

The agreement, which still must be finalized in court, also requires further environmental monitoring, testing and potentially clean-up in the area. All of that could stretch for years, adding up to what Martin calls the largest groundwater investigation in state history.

DES will answer residents’ questions at a public meeting Wednesday night in Litchfield, at 6:30 p.m. at Campbell High School.